


Compare and Contrast

by lilithtorch2



Series: CA2TWS Speculations [5]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel, Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Gen, Speculation, Spoilers, it could be Romanogers if you squint, it could even be Stucky if you squint even more, there could also be BuckyNat but I'll leave it up to you
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-15
Updated: 2014-03-15
Packaged: 2018-01-15 18:56:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1315648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilithtorch2/pseuds/lilithtorch2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"It was painful to realize who Bucky was now. Had there been signs before that he would be this way? Could Steve have done something to prevent it? He thought about the train again. He could have reached farther, used his shield, leapt over to Bucky, he could have done this, he could have done that, why didn’t he do that?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Compare and Contrast

“The ones that do call him the Winter Soldier.”

Mention Bucky Barnes’s name, and women would flock to him like moths to a flame. They always spoke of him with admiration and love. When Natasha spoke of the Winter Soldier, however, she only spoke of him with regret and wariness.

They were supposed to stop the Winter Soldier from causing more destruction, but what did that mean, especially now that Steve knew that Bucky had somehow been morphed into the Winter Soldier? He knew Bucky. He didn’t know the Winter Soldier except for what he’d done. Should he kill Bucky? Stop him from causing more harm?

With some trepidation, Natasha told him what she knew of the man. In a way, the Winter Soldier was a part of who she had become. He had trained her to become this ruthless killer, had given her the tools she needed to make a name for herself, but he also served as a warning of what she would become if she continued down his path. Yes, she owed Clint Barton a debt for sparing her life, but the truth was that she didn’t take the offer because she suddenly ‘saw the light’ and believed in good versus evil. She’d seen too much to believe in fairy tales. She took the offer because she had to; the only other option would have been death, if not by Clint, then surely by the people she worked for at the time.

It was painful to realize who Bucky was now. Had there been signs before that he would be this way? Could Steve have done something to prevent it? He thought about the train again. He could have reached farther, used his shield, leapt over to Bucky, he could have done this, he could have done that, why didn’t he do that?

Steve told Natasha about Bucky, the confident, cocky man who loved the ladies and dragged him on horrible double dates with girls who were much more interested in him than they were in Steve. He told her about Bucky, the boy who attended an art class for something other than the art. He told her about the brother who helped him even when he said he didn’t need it. Steve wished he could have taken that back; he did need Bucky. Being Captain America didn’t change that. It never did. How could it? He wished that those had at least been his last words to Bucky before he fell. And now, in this strange world, it turned out they would need each other.

“I don’t know the Winter Soldier, but I know Bucky. He’s still in there, I know it.”

Natasha looked at Steve and he could tell she was struggling with this. He knew their orders had been to eliminate the threat of the Winter Soldier, but knowing who the Winter Soldier used to be changed everything, at least for Steve anyway. Natasha did not know Bucky; she only knew the Winter Soldier, and she was clearly ambivalent. If she refused, there would be nothing he could do about it, but it would be her choice. Steve would not force a decision on her.

“Will you help me, Nat?”

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, yeah, I asked this [poorly worded question](http://fuckyeahblackwidow.tumblr.com/post/79606114456/not-question-but-maybe-an-off-topic-comment-on-post#notes) (well, in hindsight anyway; I really didn't know what kind of question I wanted to ask until FYBW asked it for me, lol) and it got me out of my writer's block and resulted in this fic.
> 
> Now that I’ve read the response and had time to think about it, I still think the Bucky-Natasha-Steve connection is worth exploring because that is the hugest coincidence I have ever heard about and if that had been real life you _know_ Perez Hilton and TMZ would have been all over that with lots of exclamation marks. More seriously, that shared connection would make Steve's realization that Bucky has somehow turned into the Winter Soldier that much more personal. (Angsty was probably not the best way to describe that.) If he had only been told, "Bucky is the Winter Soldier and doesn't remember anything," the choice is clear-cut: save Bucky. Or he could even deny that the Winter Soldier is Bucky despite looking a lot like him. But being told that the Winter Soldier has done lots of horrible things, _and_ to have a personal account of this from a friend forces him to face the gravity of the situation: save one man, or save the others (like the dilemma that Loki posed to Natasha in The Avengers)? Plus I wouldn't want to be around Steve if and when he finds out who did this to Bucky. I agree with FYBW that Bucky shouldn't be the crux of Natasha's red ledger, but I think there should still be a personal connection of some kind.


End file.
